Etsy Favs: August

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Well, it’s that time of the month again.  Here’s what I added to my Etsy favs this month.

Sending snail mail is a dying habit, but this cute Hello There Card from Quill and Fox could be the push to send something out with a stamp.

This Paris Rooftops Painting by Tubidu is plain pretty.  Paris, painting, and metallic gold. ‘Nough said.

Lately I’ve been drawn to the happiness of yellow, and this Triangle Printed Pillow from Jamie Lundberg.  Adorable.

And how could I resist this Gold Metallic Pillow Cover by {Me} Longings?

I think this Le Corbusier Green Wooden Block from The Colour Store would make a great bookend adding a burst of color.

How clever are these Stitched Wood Grain Pillow Cover by Stitch and Spoke?

And we’re back to my yellow obsession.  Yellow Snail Pillow from Laura Frisk, just plain awesome.

What happens when you combine flowers and watercolors?  Irresistible to Amanda art.  This Poppy Party Flowers Print by Karen Faulkner is no exception.

Geometric shapes are also a recent craze of mine, so these Stained Glass Honeycomb Drops by Bespoke Glass Tile hopped in my favorites.

Don’t even get me started on this fantastic Hanging Terrarium from Meg A. Myers Designs.  And how awesome would that be as a light fixture?!?

Apparently my inner raccoon has been on the prowl this month, because we’ve got another shiny, metallic item.  Gold Houndstooth Pillow Cover by Alive House.

Green is my favorite color, and this Ombre Green Necklace from Carton Bois is cute.

More faux bois.  Love this Faux Bois Utensil Holder by Jade Flower.  Turn it into a vase for more versatility.

Something about this Take Every Risk, Drop Every Fear from Lucius Art makes me smile.  Maybe the quote, but maybe the worn background.

Along with yellow (and metallics!) I’ve crushed on coral anything and everything.  This Coral Canvas Tote Bag by Chi Chi Dee is cute enough to pop in a frame as art, too.

Hello, pretty patterned Gray and Yellow Designer Pillow Covers from My Pillow Studio.

Today is the Day from Field Trip just puts a smile on my face.

Anyone think of Friends because of this You Are My Lobster by Rock the Custard?  Oodles of other adorable prints in the shop, too.

Rainy days make me happy lately.  And this Rain Drop Tea Towel from Homesteading Roasters is flippin’ great.

Possibly my favorite pillow cover of all time, this Patchwork X Pillow by CC Deux Vie.  Bold black and white, copper silk, and a fun pattern.  Sign me up!

So, which is your favorite?  It’s hard to pick just one, right?

Our Humble Sponsors: August

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We’re switching up our sponsor appreciation posts.  Now, we’re going to share three of our favorite items from each sponsor.  Let’s get started!

If you need something printed, Vistaprint is a fantastic source for quality and affordable paper items.  Whether you choose from stock designs or upload your own, you’ll be pleased with the options.

1.  Personalized Stationery

2.  Pretty Note Pads

3.  Poppy Yellow Wedding Invitations

Colorful, fun, and funny prints abound in the Scissors, Paper, Mouse shop.  Stop by the shop and poke around; I’m sure you’ll have a giggle.

1.  Yellow and Gray Ampersand

2.  OMG I’ve Become a Cliche

3.  Don’t Be Square

Sick of wondering, “What’s for dinner?”  Emeals to the rescue.  Emeals offers a variety of meal plans, low carb, gluten-free, vegetarian, organic at many different stores, taking sales and coupons into consideration.

1.  Selection by Store

2.  Diet Specific Plans

3.  Family Menu Plans

Amy at Woodlawn Lane recently started blogging, sharing fun, simple ideas with the world.  And she sells cloth diapers.  What’s not to love?

1.  A Quick Picture Frame

2.  Painting Cabinets

3.  Cloth Diapers for Sale

S and S Babee is a small shop with hand sewn baby goodies.  Quality is top-notch and the patterns are so fun.

1.  Towel Bibs

2.  Burp Cloths

3.  Cloth Wipes

Jen at IHeart Organizing happens to be my blog bff, but that’s not the only reason I love her.  She has an Etsy shop stocked with goodies to keep you organized.  Oh, and she and her adorable family recently visited us.  Yep, they traveled all the way out here to hang out, shop, and check out Montana.  But that’s another post.  Haha.

1.  Personalized Meal Planning Printable

2.  Personalized Cleaning Checklist

3.  Customized Children’s Chore Chart

Interested in advertising with Our Humble A{Bowe}d? Here’s some info to get you started.

P.S.  As usual on sponsor shout out days, we’ll be back with our monthly Etsy favs.

Ketchup and Mustard

Published on by Our Humble Abode12 Comments

Going on in our living room.

See what I mean?  Of course it won’t stay like this forever.  Painting will happen, probably white for the sides with yellow for the backs.  While we’re liking more modern and industrial element for this house, I wouldn’t call this look industrial.  More like unfinished.  More trim work, framing out the cabinets, and building doors to cover the cabinets still to come.

Let’s not forget the drawers at the bottom for ample storage.

The shelves are stationary, support cleats holding each in place.

 

Ultimately, these cabinets will have a similar look to the kitchen cabinets we built.  Wrapped at the top with crown molding, shaker style trim on the sides, and shaker doors.  Instead of glass inside, we’ll use fabric to help cut down on dusty electronics while allowing heat and sound to escape.  Oh, and to hide the ugly speakers.

Speakers are ugly, but the cords are even uglier.  Fortunately, Ben is a cord ninja.  A one inch space at the back of the shelves makes tucking cords behind easy.

Drilling a hole just above the center shelf runs the cords along the back shelf (out of sight) through a hole, down the wall, to the TV.

Now I’ve got to go paint shelves so we can actually use them and get the bookshelf out of here.  You know, between caulking/filling holes/priming in the bathroom, scraping wallpaper in the kitchen, and taking care of two crazy kids.  No biggie.  Haha.

What do you think?  How do you store your electronics?  Or hide cords?

Nailed It

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Well, almost nailed it.  Guess what?  We’re thisclose to finishing the main bathroom.  Over the weekend, Ben put up most of the trim.  Then he ran out.  Of course I couldn’t wait, so I filled holes and caulked all the seams I could.  It’s looking a little rough, but we’re getting there.

But nothing is ever simple with us.  That plan we had talked about a few months ago must have been forgotten, thus causing an argument or two.  First off, the door trim.  Ben cut a piece of the casement for the top, but it looked wimpy, and I insisted suggested he beef it up to five inches.  (That’s what she said.)

While annoyed, he must have agreed because he didn’t protest.  The toilet nook (doesn’t that sound cozy) was easy to agree on.

However, the vanity area had many issues.  For starters, Ben forgot that I wanted false drawers on the front of the vanity.  Sure, we could cover it with a flat piece, but I think it needs some more character and bling.  Good grief, I want to use pretty drawer pulls.

Until Ben decides he wants to work on that, we’ve still got this going on.

He cut a piece of trim to go along the side of the counter top, and I’m just not feeling it.  Just too bulky.

And I really don’t like the way the end looks against the linen closet.

Most likely we’ll add 1/4 inch thick by 3 inch wide trim instead to make a border around the closet end.  Because the walls aren’t perfectly straight, we’ve got a gap to fill at the back of the closet.

Basically, the visible side of the linen closet will have shaker style details similar to the kitchen cabinets we built for our first house.  And faux drawers to match, please.  Then we still have to cut thin strips to cap off the chair rail.

To cap it off, we’ll add crown molding, which I still have to find.  Something simple with a little bit of detail would be great.

Gotta sand down the filled areas to get ready for priming and painting.  Perhaps between scraping wallpaper off I’ll find some time.

I know Ben gets annoyed, but I’m fairly certain he likes the results, despite my uncanny ability to request changes.  Hey, I have a vision and I’m not good at compromising.  Haha.

What differences do you and your spouse have about projects?  Did you get a project almost done over the weekend?

It Started With a Four Year Old

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Last night, V and I had an impromptu wallpaper removal party.  And he sent me the invite.  Over the past few days, V had been slowly working on peeling wallpaper from the small area under my desk.  Once he got that off the wall, he turned his attention to the small area by the breakfast nook window.  Because I’m a good mom hate the wallpaper, I joined him.

Ben thought we were crazy, but didn’t object.  Fortunately, it peeled off easily.  Well, the design part peeled off easily.  The paper split, leaving the glued paper on the walls.  In many places, full sheets of the patterned parts came off quickly.  And in about an hour, we had all the ugly blue paper off the walls in the kitchen and office.

 

I’m happy to see the kitchen lighter and brighter, but I know it’ll be a complete pain to tear off the glued paper parts.

Lucky for me, I can work on this when I’m in the mood.  Hmmm, how often is one in the mood to remove wallpaper?  I guess we’ll find out.

For now, we’ve got a mock Tuscan look going on.

But I guess the crazy blue wallpaper wasn’t all bad.  Now the crazy things the previous owner did are completely obvious.  Like these five(!) nails randomly above the kitchen window.

And three more above the breakfast nook window, because, you know, everything is better in odd numbers.

My office has a few issues, too.

Like a wall full of pin holes.  Seriously, a little cork would have been better than this:

Gah, I love wallpaper…NOT!  Well, at least I’ve got time to work on it.  Anyone know an easy way to get the paper off without further damaging the walls?  Raise your hand if you want to come over and help.  Ah ha, I see you in the back.  Come on, I’ll feed you and provide the booze after.